Fantasy Football

2018 Fantasy Football Week 4 Stock Up-Stock Down

Week three got started off with a matchup between the Jets and Browns on Thursday night. What an exciting game that was as the Browns won their first game in over 600 days and by the looks of it, they’ve found their franchise quarterback in Baker Mayfield.

Patrick Mahomes continues to lead the Chiefs after a historic first three games to start the season. We saw Josh Allen put on a show and route the Vikings, while rookie Calvin Ridley scored three touchdowns during the loss Sunday against the Saints.

Every week we see something new and that’s the beauty of the NFL, you never know what you’ll see.

2018 Fantasy Football Week 4 Stock Up-Stock Down

After every week of the regular season, I will take a look at some of the key players who’s stock either went up or went down following their performance during that week.

It’s time to look at some of the players who’s stocks have changed following their week three performances.

Stock Up

Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints

It was a record-setting day for Drew Brees Sunday afternoon. In the second quarter, he passed Brett Favre for most completions in NFL history. That was just the beginning of a very successful day for the 18-year veteran. He went on to complete 39-of-49 passes for 396 yards and three touchdowns. Brees also added two rushing touchdowns, the second one sealing the win for the Saints.

Brees has more than 1,000 yards passing, while throwing eight touchdowns and no interceptions through the first three weeks of the season. Age doesn’t seem to be getting to Brees anytime soon and a matchup against the Giants this upcoming week presents him with another favorable matchup to produce elite QB1 numbers.

Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints

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Alvin Kamara ran the ball 16 times for 66 yards, but that wasn’t where he saw success from. He saw 20 targets and caught 15 passes to go for 124 yards during the win. The 20 targets were an NFL record for most targets by a running back in a game dating back to 1992, when the previous high was 18.

What’s scary to think about is Kamara could’ve had an even bigger day, but Drew Brees vultured two touchdowns from inside the five-yard line. Through three weeks, Kamara has caught 30 passes for 289 yards and one touchdown and is currently one of three players on pace to break the single-season reception record. Expect the second-year pro to continue his dominance next week against the Giants.

Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings

It was another big game for Thielen during the loss to the Bills. Playing behind all game, Kirk Cousins was forced to throw the ball and he often found Thielen. He saw a team-high 19 targets and went on to catch 14 of them for 105 yards.

It is now the third straight game Thielen has went over 100 receiving yards. It’s pretty clear that Thielen is Kirk Cousins’ go-to target. We’ll see Thielen in action Thursday night as they take on the Rams, another matchup where Thielen has a good shot to surpass 100 yards receiving.

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The 2016 second-round pick continued his breakout season with another stellar performance in week three. After catching six passes for 91 yards and a touchdown last week, Boyd went on to catch six more passes for 132 yards this past week.

He saw more looks from Andy Dalton with star receiver A.J. Green leaving the game in the third quarter due to injury. He should be added in all formats at this point and even if Green is healthy and playing, Boyd can be seen as an upside WR3 play for this upcoming week four matchup against the Falcons.

Stock Down

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Week three presented itself another dud of a performance from Dion Lewis. He carried the ball nine times for 26 yards while also catching three passes for 14 yards during the win over the Jaguars. It was the second straight week Derrick Henry out-touched Lewis.

In fact, since the first week where Lewis touched the ball 21 times, his touches have been on a steady decline. Both Lewis and Henry have failed to produce any fantasy viable numbers for fantasy owners and with the rotation seeming to be up in the air each week, both players hold risks in starting lineups. For now, both running backs should be treated as FLEX options moving forward.

After starting the first two weeks of the season catching a total of 16 passes, Nelson Agholor caught just four passes for 24 yards in Sunday’s game against the Colts. Scoring double-digit fantasy points during the first two weeks and even scoring a touchdown last week, Agholor struggled to get anything going during week three.

Agholor finished the first two weeks as the second leading receiver on the team. This past week. however, he finished fourth on the team in receiving, as Carson Wentz targeted Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert the most Sunday afternoon.

With Alshon Jeffery getting ready soon to make his season debut with the Eagles, that’ll only make things tougher for Agholor. He can be viewed as a WR3 now that the receiving corps is on the verge of getting more crowded within the next couple of weeks.

Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

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For the second straight week, Tyreek Hill’s target share has dropped. During the win against the 49ers, Patrick Mahomes let it fly to Travis Kelce and Sammy Watkins more than Hill. The highlight of the day for the speedster was when he caught a 42-yard bomb after leaping up and making a terrific play.

Other than that catch, Hill caught one more pass for nine yards. It was a very quiet game for Hill who had started the year off with two fantastic games. His electric speed still keeps his big-play ability alive every week and a bounce-back game is looking positive for Hill this week against the Broncos.

Blake Bortles, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars

After a dominant performance against the Patriots a week ago, Bortles regressed, struggling to get things going against the Titans. He completed 20-of-33 passes for just 158 yards during the loss. This performance adds to his forgettable week one outing against the Giants.

On the season thus far, Bortles has thrown for 707 yards, while throwing five touchdowns and two interceptions. His numbers are a bit skewed due to his 376-yard and four touchdown outing against New England in week two. As we’ve known for quite some time, its tough to trust Bortles on a weekly basis to produce consistent, fantasy viable numbers. He’ll remain a QB2 for this week’s matchup against the Jets.

About Michael Trivisonno

Michael is a huge NFL and sports fan who has been competing in fantasy football for the past five years. His love for fantasy football goes beyond FantasySixPack as he was also a Cleveland Browns News Correspondent for FantasyPros.com during the 2017 season. If you want to follow more of his writing, be sure to follow him on Twitter @Mike_Triv.